Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

Not far from the battlefield, the headquarters of the 1st Guards Infantry Division also arrived here.

General Chen Yucheng, deputy commander of the Guards Corps and commander of the 1st Infantry Division, is observing the situation on the battlefield through binoculars.

"Commander, the 1st Infantry Regiment has withstood the attack of the Tatar cavalry. Moreover, it has inflicted heavy losses on the Tatar cavalry," reported Brigadier General Liu Yiming, the division's chief of staff.

"The Tartars think they can defeat us with the superior mobility and striking power of their cavalry? That's just wishful thinking!" General Chen Yucheng said with a look of disdain.

Brigadier General Liu Yiming nodded repeatedly.

Even after deploying their cavalry, the Tartars were unable to defeat the Imperial Guard. This means that the Tartars were fundamentally incapable of defeating the Imperial Guard.

"Order the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Regiments to maneuver around the battlefield. Do everything in your power to wipe out the Tartar cavalry. The artillery battalion, prepare for battle as well. The cavalry battalion, prepare to block the Tartars' retreat!" General Chen Yucheng issued a series of orders.

"Yes, Commander!" Brigadier General Liu Yiming replied.

"In addition, send a telegram to the Northern Expeditionary Army, asking them to cooperate with us in launching a large-scale counterattack against the Tartars."

Once the Tartar cavalry is wiped out by us, it will inevitably have a huge impact on their morale. The Northern Expeditionary Army has been suppressed by the Tartars for so long; it's time to launch a counterattack.

General Chen Yucheng then gave the order.

"Yes, Commander!" Brigadier General Liu Yiming nodded repeatedly.

The fierce battle continued, with Qing cavalry launching repeated attacks in an attempt to break through the defenses of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard.

However, faced with the concentrated firepower of the Imperial Guards, each attack by the Qing army achieved nothing other than leaving a large number of corpses in front of the Imperial Guards' defenses; at most, it only caused the Imperial Guards to consume more ammunition.

The heavy losses demoralized the Qing cavalry, and many cavalrymen no longer wanted to continue the attack.

Or rather, they don't want to go and die anymore.

Senggelinqin was helpless to see this scene.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Suddenly, a series of explosions rang out.

A barrage of cannonballs rained down from the sky, slamming into the ranks of the Qing cavalry.

This is the artillery battalion of the 1st Guards Infantry Division firing.

The range of a 75mm field gun is much greater than that of a 75mm mountain gun.

Therefore, these field guns could attack Qing cavalry even from a distance of a considerable distance from the battlefield.

This round of intense artillery fire also caught the Qing army's cavalry off guard.

"Report, Your Highness. A large number of Taiping rebels have been spotted on our flank and rear! They are trying to surround us!" a Qing cavalry general reported.

Senggelinqin's expression changed drastically.

He seemed not to have expected the Royal Guard to have such a big appetite.

"Your Highness, let's retreat. The Taiping rebels are too powerful. If we don't leave now, it will be too late." The other generals also urged him to retreat.

Senggelinqin nodded; he knew the battle was lost.

If we continue like this, it will only lead to more people dying on the battlefield.

"Retreat! Retreat immediately!" Senggelinqin issued the order to retreat.

Once the order to retreat was given, the Qing cavalry retreated like a receding tide.

These cavalrymen were terrified by the battle they had just fought and had no desire to continue fighting.

Being able to retreat and save one's own life is undoubtedly the best outcome.

However, the Imperial Guards were unwilling to let the Qing cavalry withdraw from the battle so easily.

The soldiers of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard began to pursue the Qing army's cavalry.

However, the soldiers' two legs could not compare to the four legs of the warhorse.

But they are not fighting alone.

The other two infantry regiments and cavalry battalion of the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard have begun to outflank the Tartars, attempting to cut off their retreat.

"Rat-a-tat-tat! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The retreating Tatar cavalry crashed into the Imperial Guard's defensive line.

Heavy machine guns and mortars opened fire fiercely, further reaping the lives of Qing cavalry.

This forced the Qing cavalry to turn around again, attempting to retreat in another direction.

But the other units of the Guard Corps also seized the opportunity and maneuvered around to get closer.

In an instant, the Qing cavalry, having suffered heavy losses, were as if they had fallen into the encirclement of the Imperial Guard, and were powerless to escape.

Seeing that things were not going well, Senggelinqin, under the protection of his guards, forcibly broke through the encirclement that the Imperial Guard Legion had not yet formed and fled the battlefield.

However, the main force of the Qing cavalry was surrounded.

After breaking through the encirclement, Senggelinqin ordered Dexinga, the commander of the Qing army's Jiangbei camp, to immediately send troops to rescue the cavalry.

However, Dexing'a said that he was powerless to help.

Are you kidding me? Their best cavalrymen have been wiped out by the Taiping Army's elite troops. Sending ordinary Green Standard Army soldiers into battle at this point is practically suicide.

Furthermore, the Taiping Army's Northern Expeditionary Force had also begun its counterattack.

The Taiping Army's Northern Expeditionary Force was previously suppressed by the Qing Army because the Qing Army possessed a powerful cavalry.

Now, the Qing cavalry is almost wiped out. The Northern Expeditionary Army has no more worries about its rear. Furthermore, the victory of the Imperial Guard has greatly boosted the morale of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

The three armies of the Northern Expeditionary Army took the initiative to launch an attack on the Qing army.

This put immense pressure on all Qing army units, making it impossible for them to spare any more troops to rescue the cavalry.

Senggelinqin was furious about this and said that Dexing'a was refusing to help someone in distress, and that he would definitely report Dexing'a to Emperor Xianfeng.

Dexing'a, on the other hand, criticized Senggelinqin for his reckless attack, which resulted in the loss of the Qing army's most powerful cavalry.

The two of them put on a real dog-eat-dog show over this issue.

Once the Qing cavalry were surrounded by the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard, they had no chance of escape.

Many Qing cavalrymen, seeing that they could not escape, surrendered directly.

This allowed the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard to wipe out the Qing army's cavalry in just half an afternoon.

Subsequently, the 1st Guards Infantry Division continued its attack.

The Northern Expeditionary Army has launched a full-scale counterattack, and the Imperial Guard Army will naturally provide full support.

3月5日下午，近卫军团第1步兵师和北征军团第1军以及第2军，包围了江都。

Dexing'a, the commander of the Qing army's Jiangbei camp, fled Jiangdu ahead of schedule.

However, the main force of the Qing army's Jiangbei camp, numbering over 30,000, was unable to escape.

The Imperial Guard Corps deployed dozens of cannons to launch a fierce bombardment of Jiangdu City.

The heavy artillery fire not only inflicted enormous losses on the Qing army's officers and soldiers, but also severely damaged their morale.

The Imperial Guard used concentrated machine gun fire to suppress the Qing troops on the city wall.

They then advanced to the base of the city wall and began planting gunpowder.

"boom!"

When hundreds of kilograms of gunpowder were detonated, a deafening explosion was heard, as if the entire ground was shaking.

The city walls of Jiangdu were not particularly sturdy to begin with, and there was no way they could withstand such a violent explosion.

During the violent explosion, a long section of the city wall collapsed.

The well-prepared soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army then stormed into Jiangdu City through the breach in the city wall.

The Qing soldiers had lost their will to fight and, with the exception of a very few, had no other choice.

They either scatter and flee, or they surrender immediately.

This allowed the Taiping army to capture Jiangdu City in just one afternoon.

In this battle alone, more than 20,000 prisoners of war were captured.

The main force of the Qing army's Jiangbei camp, except for more than 10,000 who fled to Huai'an Prefecture, was also annihilated.

On March 6, the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard launched an attack towards Pukou and Jiangpu.

The Qing army deployed in this area originally numbered over ten thousand, attempting to besiege Tianjing (Nanjing) from the north across the Yangtze River.

But as the Jiangbei camp was breached, the Qing troops there were also terrified.

They abandoned their established defenses and fled to places like Chuzhou in Anhui Province.

The siege of Tianjing by the Qing army was thus completely lifted.

The Taiping army achieved another major victory on the battlefield north of the Yangtze River.

Having suffered heavy losses, the Qing army found it increasingly difficult to continue its siege of Nanjing.